Effective Parenting: A ‘Virtual’ Success

Effective Parenting: A New Paradigm has been a first in more ways than one. It is the first non-fiction book I have ever written. Secondly, this is my first e-book and hence my maiden tryst with the virtual world. Finally, the book is also a first for my publisher Learning and Creativity (L&C).

How did I get the idea of foraying into virgin terrain?

My personal quest for becoming an effective parent began with the birth of my daughter, Ankita. I decided to chat up with near and dear ones and also read up a bit. Parenting, I soon realised, was a topic on which almost everyone had an opinion and half and was also a self-styled expert.

The books I tried to read confused me more than ever. The DIY books were didactic, stuffed with jargon and crammed with statistics. Parenting was being taught like it was a course in anaesthesia and/or the diet regimen of a Sumo Wrestler.

I abandoned the idea of seeking external help and decided to trust my own instincts and the legacy I had inherited from my father, who according to me is the finest possible parent on Planet Earth.

After stumbling through the myriad moments of anxiety, exasperation, madness and mirth, I finally reached a stage where I felt I too could write a book. Not a copy-and-paste treatise on the art and science of parenting but a straight from the heart account with dollops of  experience from my cache, nuggets of wisdom from  my mentor, my guru, my icon, my father and morsels  of  insight gleaned from secondary sources.

The manuscript was a book in progress for almost half a decade. My perspectives on parenting began changing with the changing times and more importantly with the changing patterns of behaviour of Ankita and her ‘quibbling’ Aniket.

Finally when Ankita flew the nest and Aniket had ‘taught me all he could’ I decided to go hammer and tongs at the first draft of the manuscript.  After completing it I sent it with a lot of trepidation to Learning and Creativity, easily one of the most happening websites committed to creativity in all its nuances.

Read about how Effective Parenting: A New Paradigm suggests a fresh avatar for the new age parent.

The AMR of a manuscript

The editors liked the substance but gently suggested changes in the style and structure. I reworked and resubmitted the manuscripts. There were several rounds of discussions which led to what in engineering parlance is called AMR – Additions, Modifications and Replacements.   The manuscript was embellished with a new section called Kahani Konnect, which comprised 25 short stories penned by me, which parents could share with their little and not-so-little ones.

Most books on parenting available in the Indian market have been written by foreigners who lack the Indian perspective. The few Indians who have written on this hugely fascinating as well as complex theme have been psychologists, paediatricians, teachers or social scientists.  I am none of these.

My biggest weakness is that I do not have the pedigree to pen a tome on parenting. What I do have is a soul that cares for kids, a mind that has lived in the world of children for years, a heart that beats for my own and memories which prickle with agony and angst. My book is not about You and Them – it is about We and Us.

After the book was launched on 7^th September I was nervous. Would my hands-on, callow attempt at stringing together my experiences and thoughts be accepted by the readers used to more professional stuff?

Read about how the book launch turned into an interactive session on parenting and its challenges

Breaking the stereotype

The Book Release function turned into a parenting session

As the reviews, both word of mouth, and virtual came trickling in I realised that I had indeed broken quite a few stereotypes. The book’s biggest weakness it’s informal, straight from the heart, hands-on approach had become its biggest strength.  In less than a month the book zoomed up to the 2^nd spot in Amazon Kindle’s Hot New Releases list under the segment Family & Relationships.

The demand is now growing for a print edition. Quite of few of my readers have mailed, texted and told me that they would be more comfortable reading my hands-on book, by holding it in their hands, in its physical form rather than its virtual one.

#EffectiveParenting book’s weakness – it’s informal, hands-on approach has become its biggest strength. http://t.co/XQ0AEQAbSW— Learning&Creativity (@LearnNCreate) October 16, 2014

Watch this space…

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About the Author

Ramendra Kumar ( 118 Posts)

Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is an award-winning writer, performance storyteller and inspirational speaker with 49 books. His writings have been translated into 32 languages and included in 26 textbooks and many anthologies in various countries. Ramen has written across all genres ranging from picture books to adult fiction, satire, poetry, travelogues, biographies and on issues related to parenting and relationships. His writings have been published by the major publishing houses in India. His books brought out by National Book Trust (NBT), India have notched up sales of more than 4.9 lakh copies in just one year. Ramen has been invited to several international literary festivals as well as Indian events such as Jaipur Litfest and seminars organised by Sahitya Akademi and IGNOU. The author has won a total of 41 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT) over the years, which is among the highest by any writer. Ramen was chosen as the ‘Author and Storyteller of the Year’ (2022), on ‘Talking Stories’, London, UK’s number one Radio Programme dedicated to the art of storytelling. He was nominated as a Jury Member for the Best Children’s Author Category of The Times of India’s ‘Women AutHer’ Awards, 2020. Ramen was also selected as a mentor for the Scholastic Writers Academy. An alumnus of the prestigious Hyderabad Public School (HPS), Ramen is an Engineer & an MBA. He and his inspiration, his wife Madhavi, were General Managers at SAIL, when they took Voluntary Retirement to pursue their respective passions. Their children are bonsai celebrities in their own right. While Ankita is a youth icon and a travel blogger with an Instagram following of 296 K, Aniket creates cool Apps and designs covers for his dad’s books. Ramen is now a Cancer warrior and an inspiration to many. His website is www.ramendra.in and he has a page devoted to him on Wikipedia.
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